


FOR CAYDE: SHADOWKEEP AND BEYOND PART 2

by AislinAvalbane312



Series: Cayde and Aislin - The For Cayde Series [5]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:40:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AislinAvalbane312/pseuds/AislinAvalbane312
Summary: Decided to split up Shadowkeep and Beyond.  This is the first chapter to open things up.  I was going to make this chapter longer, but it seemed to work better cutting it where I did and then working in more chapters following.  I'm not going to spend a great deal of time on Season of Arrivals.  The first couple chapters are going to establish Saint being back and the reactions to the Pyramid ships arriving, then lead into Beyond Light.  So, here we go ...
Relationships: Cayde-6/Female Guardian (Destiny)
Series: Cayde and Aislin - The For Cayde Series [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1289249
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to split up Shadowkeep and Beyond. This is the first chapter to open things up. I was going to make this chapter longer, but it seemed to work better cutting it where I did and then working in more chapters following. I'm not going to spend a great deal of time on Season of Arrivals. The first couple chapters are going to establish Saint being back and the reactions to the Pyramid ships arriving, then lead into Beyond Light. So, here we go ...

Each punch that landed felt distant; each ones solid thud a hollow ringing in my ears. I felt the sting in my knuckles before they began slowly growing numb, and the heat and stiffness forming in my forearms, my elbows, and my shoulders. The low, overworked ache that was gradually spreading through my body, telling me to stop - to take a break - but somehow unable to. How long had I been at this now? I wasn’t sure. I’d become lost in it as my mind wandered back to that moment, hearing Saint-14’s echoing voice repeat the same things over and over in my head with each slam of my fist. 

_“Thank you for coming. We’ve gathered here today to celebrate the life of my mentor. My inspiration. They called her Crota’s End. The Hivebane. Kingslayer. The Young Wolf. The hero of the Red War. The woman who defied all odds to save Cayde-6. The great love of her life. She had a hundred titles I cannot recall and each one more deserving than the last. And she died doing what she does best. Defending the Last City of humanity. Ages ago, she saved my life. And then, she inspired me to save myself. I am glad that she did. Because, Traveler help us … she is gone. And there is no one to save us now. On the day we met, I decided I would follow her example. I’m still trying. I’ve marked this grave with one of her favorite weapons, shattered in that final confrontation. It used to be mine. All who find what we’ve left here – please leave it be. Unless… Unless you’re still out there somewhere. You’ve performed miracles before. In which case, take it. And come back to us. And we’ll kill what killed you. Or die trying.”_

It had been a couple months since I’d heard those words and yet, I still couldn’t shake them. I even still heard them in my dreams. My nightmares. Every damn day whenever I heard Sant’s voice in the Hanger.

It wasn’t his fault, I knew that. I couldn’t hold him or anyone responsible for an echo in a timeline we had no idea was even ours.

But it still haunted me.

Still scared the hell out of me.

What had even happened that prompted it? How had I died? More importantly, what had happened to Cayde? The tomb we’d seen had a carving of Ghost on it. If I was dead, that meant Ghost was, too. So what had happened to Cayde? Was he already dead? Or was he still alive? The what if’s of that possible future were an untold torment gnawing away at the recesses of my mind day after day after day and I sometimes felt as if I were slowly going insane.

“Ais?”

I kept feeling like I had to figure out the catalyst. But what if it had already come and gone and it was too late?

“Ais?”

What if it really wasn’t this timeline? What if it was another one and I was panicking and obsessing over something that would never be?

“Aislin.”

But what if it was this timeline and thinking it wasn’t would lead us right to it? How much time did we even have left? What if there was no way back? What if -

“AISLIN!”

I startled, jerking, my head snapping in the direction of the commanding shout to see Cayde coming right up to my side, carefully gripping my wrists to still me. 

“Didn’t you hear me?” He asked, sounding both admonishing and concerned at the same time. I opened my mouth as I looked at him, but nothing came out. Cayde’s gaze shifted to my hands and he winced, moving his own to cradle mine, easing them closer to himself to look them over. That was when I noticed the hand wraps I had on were soaked through with blood at the knuckles and dripping onto the floor. A low wheezing sound drew my eyes to the boxing droid that had been in front of me, now slumping down to the floor as it sparked and shut down, the sparring pads it had been holding smeared in blood and pummeled into nothing.

I looked back up at Cayde just as his eyes found mine. “I’m sorry,” I uttered. “I …” I didn’t know what else to say, I just suddenly felt awful and my vision blurred.

“Come’ere,” Cayde uttered and pulled me against his chest, hugging me tight, rocking us back and forth. “I gotchya.” 

I clung to him for a few minutes as he lightly pet the back of my head, holding me close. “It’s alright,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry,” I uttered again.

“Shhhhh,” he soothed. “It’s okay.”

I smiled a bit, appreciating that I didn’t have to explain, and pressed my face into the side of his hood, soaking up the comfort of the sensation of the warm cloth against my face. 

A few moments later, I felt a soft, cool tingle on my hands and looked over Cayde’s shoulder to see Ghost healing them before looking up at me. I smiled at him and mouthed a ‘thank you’. Ghost’s shell perked up as if he were smiling back, and bobbed.

Eventually, Cayde led me over to a nearby window that had a large built-in concrete seat scattered with pillows and a throw draped over the center. He sat down, lifting his feet up, and settled back into the pillows, opening his arms invitingly.

“You know I’m all sweaty and gross,” I told him, smirking a bit.

“You know I don’t care,” he smiled back, waving his held out hands in toward himself. “Come on. Come sit with me for a minute.” 

I shook my head, but climbed up onto the sill with him and settled into his embrace, laying against his torso, his arms and legs settling around me like a cocoon, much in the same way I tended to do for him. 

“Oh, yeah, you’re totally gross. Don’t know if I can stand it,” Cayde playfully lamented. I slapped at his shoulder and he chuckled.

I chuckled a bit, too, but closed my eyes, tucking my head against the side of his neck as I felt him pull his gloves off, fingertips tenderly stroking though my hair at my temple. 

“Went back to the Corridors, huh?” He quietly asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. Didn’t mean to.”

His chest bounced under me with a faint, amused laugh. “You’re not banned from doing that, y’know?”

“I know. I just … I don’t want to keep thinking about it and let it take over, you know? I don’t want it to define everything I do. Everything _we_ do. I don’t want to keep thinking: ‘Is what I’m about to do going to lead to that?’.” I felt him nod, his fingers still stroking through my hair. 

“It’s not for sure, though,” Cayde reminded me. “Yeah, we stumbled on it, but we don’t know for sure if it’s from our exact timeline.”

“But it was Saint giving the eulogy. Saint here, back in our timeline. That was a one in a billion chance, getting him back,” I gently pointed out, lifting my head to look at him. 

“Mmm,” Cayde nodded, looking back at me, his hand shifting from my hair to my back, soothingly rubbing up and down. “But there’s more than a billion chances out there, baby. Especially if there’s infinite timelines.”

He was trying to reassure me, I knew. Reassure Ghost and himself, too. And he had a point. Yes, Saint being back was one in a billion. But, maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t the only timeline where we were able to get him back in the vast infiniteness of time. I was more inclined to believe that it was but … Cayde wasn’t going to give up on that hope. Neither was Ghost. And neither could I. We had to hold onto that hope. Or, at the very least, believe that, whatever had happened, there was a way to fix it. Since awakening a Guardian, Ghost and I had been able to preform the seeming impossible and do things other Guardians hadn’t been able to. 

But …

One day, that seeming impossible ability was going to run out.

One day.

Hopefully this wouldn’t be it, though.

“I gotta believe, baby,” Cayde whispered to me. “Cause I can’t lose you,” he told me, shaking his head. “I can’t.”

I looked at him and reached up, laying my palm over his cheek, caressing just under his left eye with the pad of my thumb. “I can’t lose you, either. Or Ghost,” I said looking over at our Little Light, settled beside us. 

“We’re not going anywhere,” Ghost defiantly assured me. “We’re a team. We’re family. We stay together. No matter what.”

“Damn straight,” Cayde nodded before turning his head and kissing my palm. 

I smiled, feeling a bit better, and settled back down against Cayde, feeling his arms bundle me up and hold me close, as if he were trying to shelter me from the world and keep me safe from anything that’d ever dare to try and take me away.

After a few minutes, I felt myself drifting, nearly falling asleep, when Cayde’s commlink beeped, startling all three of us.

“Cayde?” Zavala’s voice crackled over the link, tense and clearly urgent.

“Yeah. What is it, Big Guy?” Cayde asked. I looked up at him, seeing his features twisting to a concerned frown as Ghost lifted into the air beside him.

“Is Aislin with you?” Zavala asked.

“Yeah, she’s right here. What’s goin’ on?” He asked, now sitting up more, forcing me to sit up as well as he looked at me with clear concern.

“We need the three of you in the briefing room. Right now. The System’s been breached. Rasputin’s gone. And we’ve lost contact with Ana.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, everyone! Sorry these chapters keep taking a while. RL is busy. Doing the best I can. But I kind of made up for it this go with not just this chapter, but the one after it! Yup, TWO chapters at once!
> 
> Enjoy! ❤️

I stared out over the City, taking in the bustle and colorful lights scattered about on the numerous buildings, homes and ships as they grew brighter in the waning light of the the sun, each one twinkling and shifting from the life that teemed within and all around this beautiful place I called home. 

How many times had others been right here where I was standing now? Looked out over a very similar sight and felt the connection and welling emotion I felt in this moment? Older Guardians who not only had lived here for many, many years, but the ones who actually built it up from a small, primitive camp that huddled fearfully beneath the Traveler into what it was now. This place was everything to everyone here for so many different reasons. Both Guardians and civilians alike. It wasn’t just our home, it was our sanctuary. The last safe place left.

If we lost it, what would we do?

Would humanity even survive?

Could it survive? 

Again?

Were we really even strong enough to? Or were we about to be obliterated - scattered to the far reaches of the universe like the Eliksni?

I looked up past the Traveler at the darkening sky, the stars now beginning to shine brighter, twinkling like the lights of the City. Sure enough, I couldn’t stop my gaze from drifting off in the direction of Mercury, then toward Jupiter, and, lastly, toward Saturn. My heart sunk and my vision blurred. 

I closed my eyes just as I felt strong, secure arms carefully wrap around me from behind. I was pulled back against a warm chest and felt Cayde settle his chin on my shoulder, tilting his head against mine in a comforting gesture. I returned it just as a couple more sets of footsteps followed his, one heavy, one light, each moving to either side of us then stilling, the silence returning for a few moments. I hugged Cayde’s arms to my middle, my palms blindly finding the backs of his hands before I laced our fingers together, feeling him give them a gentle squeeze.

“They’re not coming … are they?” Zavala quietly drawled from my left, his tone sombre.

I swallowed and shook my head. “No,” I barely breathed, my voice nearly lost on the soft breeze all around us.

***

Everything was a whirlwind. 

If asked, I honestly couldn’t begin to tell you the level of shit we’d gotten into in the past year once all was said and done. 

An Undying Mind.

Time travel.

A glimpse at mortality.

The truth about Rasputin and Felwinter.

The City nearly being obliterated.

A fleet of Pyramid ships entering the System.

The Traveler healing itself.

Mercury, Mars, Titan, and Io. All … just … disappeared in the blink of an eye. And Sloan, Asher, and Vance along with them.

Their choice.

But I still codlin’t help feeling like there was more I could have done to convince them to come home. Something more I could’ve said to have changed their minds. 

Maybe … Maybe if I’d just … just tried harder.

“Hey.” A soft whisper in my ear and Cayde’s gentle hand on my shoulder made me jerk, a bit startled. I blinked myself out of my self-induced ‘pity party’ and returned to reality. 

“Huh?” I grunted, looking over my shoulder at him.

“You okay?” Cayde asked, even though I knew he could sense I wasn’t.

“Just …” I sighed. “Everything,” I shrugged and looked around the plaza area we were standing in, almost feeling like I was in a strange dream.

He nodded and put his arm around my shoulders, giving me a squeeze before he started walking us down the street, heading for the main market to pick up some supplies we were going to need for tomorrow. 

The people around us had this strange, hushed, almost fearful vibe about them even though, on the outside, they seemed to be doing their best to put on a positive outlook and go about their day as best they could. To act like everything was okay, even though it wasn’t.

They knew what had happened and even though Zavala had addressed the City yesterday with reassuring and comforting words that we would keep them safe, the tension and worry was still very palpable. 

“Yeah, can I have two of those?” I heard Cayde say and I suddenly realized we’d stopped walking and were at a sweets stand, Cayde buying a couple large, creamy mint truffles, handing one to me.

I smiled, cheered by the treat, and took it. “Thank you,” I murmured. Cayde gave my forehead a kiss as I took a bite, then the two of us resumed our walk while he ate his as well. 

“Did it ever feel like this before?” I asked him, looking down at the soft inside of the truffle as I swallowed the bite I’d taken out of it. “In the early days, before the City and the walls? Before Guardians were Guardians?” I glanced over at him, biting off another piece.

Cayde licked his metal lips, taking a moment before answering. “The Warlords were a whole other breed-a nasty,” he told me with a nod. 

“Did you ever face any of them?” 

“Face ‘em, no,” he shook his head. “But they were around. Folks were terrified of them. You didn’t mess with ‘em. At all. You did what you were told. And I was … I was too new back then to … I learned real quick not ta challenge any of ‘em. You kept your head down, don’t draw attention, and didn’t let ‘em know what you were - a Guardian, I mean. Although, we didn’t call ourselves Guardians back then. We were just … Risen. The ones who challenged them were the Iron Lords. But you know that part.” 

I nodded and finished off the truffle as Cayde did the same with his before speaking again.

“It was … It was a different kind of scary back then,” he told me. “It was a scared of dyin’ but not … not scared the world and everything you ever knew was gonna end, too.” He winced almost immediately after saying that. “That …That didn’t come out right. I mean - ”

“It’s okay,” I quickly assured him, slipping my arm around him, softly rubbing his back under his cloak. “No sense pretending that’s not a possibility. Not that it hasn’t ever been before it’s just …”

“Now just feels more real than it has in a long time,” Cayde carefully finished.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “How did you learn not to mess with them?” I asked. That part hadn’t escaped me.

“I saw what they did to Risen who crossed their path and didn’t fall in line.” He hesitated for a moment. “Not just in person but … In the Wilds. Bodies. Shells. The lucky ones … they and their Ghosts went quick.”

I rested my head on his shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me any more.”

He tilted his head onto mine and kissed the top of it. “It’s okay, Ais. It was a long, long time ago. I’m fine.”

“Sometimes I forget how old you are. No offense,” I smirked.

He lightly chuckled. “Sometimes I forget, too.”

A comfortable silence settled over us for a little bit and we looked around at the tiny scattered shops here and there and the vendors that had settled into the occasional nook or cranny near an alleyway - usually those who didn’t have licenses to shop at the main market because they were selling knock-offs of one thing or another. 

As we began to cross an arched footbridge that spanned a small canal, leading into the main market, I looked down at the water below, speckled with the remnants of the last leaves to fall from the nearby trees as winter closed in, the very edges of the slow moving water just now starting to ice over.

“I’ve never known you to be scared of dying,” I murmured, as I pulled my eyes away from the scenery to look at him.

His body jerked a little from a silent chuckle. “Once upon a time,” he nodded.

“When did you stop?” I asked.

He shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know. Just … happened.”

My arm slid down and I hugged his waist, feeling him give me a gentle squeeze right back.

“Are _you_ scared?” He asked. 

“Of actual death? No,” I shook my head. “I’m scared of losing you, though. And Ghost. And - ” I pressed my lips together and sighed through my nose, swallowing at a tightness in my throat.

“And what?” He quietly asked, holding me a bit closer against his side.

“It seems so petty and … stupid in the grand scheme of things now that I’m really thinking about it and am talking about it out loud. Especially compared to what others have lost.”

“Tell me anyway,” he said.

I shook my head at myself again, rolling my eyes. “It’s dumb, I know, it’s just a thing, and I feel like an idiot saying this but … “ I sighed. “Last night, I couldn’t sleep. So, after you fell asleep, I went downstairs and sat on the couch and just … ran my hands over it, thinking about the first time you came into my apartment with that awful headache and fell asleep on it. And then I thought about all those nights following that you spent on it. All the movies we’ve watched together on it; the card games you taught me while we sat together sharing drinks and jokes and just passing the time. All the late night cuddles and laying together, talking to each other. Baring so much of ourselves and being there for each other when we needed it most. Just … so many wonderful memories and treasured moments and …” My eyes teared up. “It’s just a stupid couch, I know,” I said, laughing a little at myself around the tears; at the ridiculousness of it. “But I realized, of all the things we have, it’s the one thing I don’t want to lose.”

Cayde stopped us walking and, without a word, turned me into him and hugged me tight against his chest. “Ain’t stupid,” he whispered, shaking his head, rubbing my back. “Least now, though, I can confess I’ve had a thing for our blender for months. It’s been gettin’ pretty serious, too. Been lookin’ for a way to, uh, tell ya, but - ” 

I pushed back a bit and lightly thumped his chest with my hand, making him grunt. “You dumbass,” I muttered. 

He chuckled and I smirked, giving him a kiss. 

“Am I being silly?” I asked him as I grew a bit more serious while I admired his chest armor, petting it and straightening out the leather strap that laid across it. I wasn’t usually so sentimental. At least, not before Cayde really became part of my life. Now, things meant so much more.

“No. No, no,” he assured me with a shake of his head. “What are we fightin’ for if not to have what we have and for all he people here to have that, too, right?” He offered.

I smiled. “You’re exactly what I needed to realize that, you know?” I asked him, looking up into his eyes. “That spark that … that wildcard.”

Hey smiled at me just before his features shifted, as if something very important had just occurred to him.

“What is it?” I asked.

He blinked, eyebrows rising, snapping out of his thoughts and focusing on me once again. “Hm? Oh, nothin’ beautiful. Just … just liked what you said, is all.” He kissed my cheek. “C’mon. We should get what we need and head on back. A Commander with his armor in a bunch makes for a cranky boss to explain yourself to.”

I chuckled, knowing he was holding something back. But I also knew Cayde was working some things out and piecing together things he’d learned from many many years of being a Hunter and Vanguard. When it was time for me to know, he’d tell me. I trusted him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand the next one! I'm going to try to get the chapter after this one out sooner but I have no idea if I'll manage. Ongoing home reno and just general stuff keeps taking up my time. But I am working on it and will get it out ASAP. Thank you all for being so patient! *HUGS*

“That’s another one. They all scan the same. Empty,” I said aloud as I heard Cayde’s boots crunching on the snow, coming up behind me. Ghost floated around into my line of view, looking out at the small, elongated shard that hung silently in the air, the silhouette of one of the Pyramid ships looming far off in the distance like an ominous mountain of black ice. The setting sun cast a reflective purplish glow over the whole glacial terrain before us and throughout the sky, reminding me a bit of the Realm of the Nine. 

I shivered.

“Cold?” Cayde asked.

I shook my head. “No. The new armor’s doing its job. Just … unsettling memories.” 

He grunted and nodded.

“What about you?” I asked him. “You doing okay?”

“Me? Time-a my life, beautiful! Outta the Tower, on an adventure with you and our little pal here, facing murder Pyramids and an almost certain frozen death, revisiting a place that’s making every figurative hair on my body stand on end - or at least the sensation of it.” He gave a dramatic two thumbs up pose toward the Pyramid. “Fantastic!”

I easily caught the sarcasm and could sense the trepidation, but his real and genuine excitement was overriding it all. He was happy to be out of the Tower, even if it was coming to a place of dark and dangerous secrets from his distant past that he couldn’t remember a thing about. I couldn’t help the smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. It was good to see him like this. Even under such circumstances. 

More and more, it was becoming obvious to the three of us - and to Ikora and Zavala - that we were all going to have to take some time very soon to sit down and discuss a Hunter Vanguard replacement. Mine and Cayde’s bond was just too strong, and separating us, especially since we shared Ghost, it didn’t work. I was needed out in the field almost constantly. I couldn’t stop what I was doing and remain in the Tower. That had been established. And Cayde and I worked far better together than we did apart. Not to mention, whenever he was stuck in the Tower without us, yeah, he was Cayde. He complained good-naturedly. But, even when he tried not to show it, Ikora had told me that, sometimes, he seemed a little sad and beside himself. Almost lost. 

I knew.

I could sense it when it happened. 

I felt the same way.

So did Ghost.

Even if we didn’t have the bond, I missed Cayde each and every time we’d gone out without him. I just loved having him around. So did Ghost, although he jokingly told me not to tell Cayde that. But, Cayde … he had a way about him. He was fun and warm and playful. He made things exciting when they seemed boring and he was a comfort when things got too intense. He had the experience to know how to handle a lot of what we ran into that, even though Ghost and I had been up against some serious stuff, Cayde understood dealing with it on a different level. And we needed that. Sure, he could be a jerk sometimes when he got caught up in himself, but he usually realized it when it happened and backed himself off. And, yeah, talking to each other on the comms when he couldn’t join us was just like old times. But that was just it. Old times were old times. I’d gotten used to him having my back. To him just being there. I felt like Peter Pan without his shadow. It was a whole other kind of lonely that just talking on the comms now couldn’t substitute for.

With all these things realized, Zavala and Ikora seemed to agree that it was past time to let him go and accept someone new in the position. And, truth be told, it had been obvious for a while some of the Hunters weren’t liking getting their missions and turning in their reports to a stand-in droid. They deserved someone who was going to be there to not only see to those things but to mentor them as Cayde had mentored so many others. 

Besides, it wasn’t like he was really going anywhere. The position would just be lead by someone else, but Cayde would still be privy to all Vanguard information and meetings, just as he had always been. He would still maintain a Vanguard title. He just wouldn’t be stuck in the Tower. And I knew the idea of that had thrilled him beyond words! 

Drawing myself back to the present, I stared out at the shard a bit more intently, frowning. “Why did the Darkness invite us here?” I wondered aloud and glanced toward Ghost. He hovered quietly, just staring out at the Pyramid as if lost somewhere in his own thoughts. “You’re quiet today,” I observed.

His shell perked up a little and he looked at me. “Yeah,” he replied, a hesitant sigh in his tone and he turned away from he Pyramid, the back half go his shell twirling. He seemed nervous. 

Cayde glanced at me then back at Ghost. “What is it, pal?” He asked as he and I turned and slowly followed Ghost, walking away from the shard.

“It’s just … we keep coming face-to-face with Darkness,” Ghost said, his shell tilted downward, “and every time, we fail to stop it. We’re just so … powerless,” he sadly said, sounding tired and a bit dejected.

I was about to say something I hoped would be encouraging, when a low, repetitive beeping sound came from Ghost’s comm link. He perked up. “I’m picking up a destress signal. Someone’s in trouble.” He halted where he was, Cayde and I on either side of him, watching him curiously as he played it, the sound a bit muddled with static: 

“My friends. We are all in great danger,” the chittering, raspy voice said, laced with urgency. 

My eyes widened and I looked to Cayde who I noticed had instantly stood a bit straighter. “That’s - ”

“Variks?!” Ghost interrupted, sounding as stunned as both of us were! “He has a lot to answer for,” he then added, his shell furrowing over his eye. 

“Darkness walks among us,” Variks hastily finished over the comm before it cut out. 

“I’ll send a message to let Zavala know,” Ghost dutifully said.

“Whoa, whoa,” Cayde said, holding up his hand. “Hang on, pal. Where’s the signal coming from?” He asked.

“Here,” Ghost told him, looking out at the vast span of ice and snow before us. “Europa.”

“You got a lock on it?” Cayde asked.

Ghost looked left to right as he scanned as far as he could, his shell opening and fanning out form his tiny body. “Yes,” he told Cayde, pulling his shell back in. “Not too far from here. About one kilometer north of our position.”

Cayde nodded and materialized his sparrow, hopping on, petting the seat behind him. I got on curling myself against his back and holding on tight, Ghost disappearing into my pack as Cayde revved the engine and sent us speeding off, following the marker Ghost put up on our radar. 

***

The last few hundred feet to the signal, Cayde and I went on foot, keeping low, eventually getting down on our hands and knees as we crawled up close, using an incoming squall and the lifted ice sheets around us as cover to stay out of sight of the Fallen Skiffs above. I spotted heavy activity going on on top of one of the nearby buildings and zoomed in the sights on my helmet, trying to make things out as best I could against the blustery snow. 

I saw Variks, surrounded by Vandals and Dregs, all having their weapons trained on him as a larger Eliksni, one that towered over him and looked much like a Captain, came walking up to him flanked by other seeming high - ranking Eliksni. I adjusted the volume, hoping my helmet could pick up what was being said.

It was crackly in my ear, but I was able to make it out, looking over at Cayde who gave a nod that he was listening, too.

Just as I turned back, I saw Variks get backhanded across his face by the larger Eliksni, the hit so hard it spun him around and knocked him off his feet. I frowned.

“Not only a traitor but a thief!” The larger Eliksni accused and I was taken aback, unprepared for the voice to be female. 

“Eramis,” Cayde murmured in recognition.

I glanced at him sideways, curious how he knew her, but didn’t ask, wanting to hear what was being said.

“Now, where is it?!” Eramis demanded of Variks.

“Safe from you, yes?” Variks defiantly replied.

She glared at him for a few tense second, then looked to her right. “Search the buildings. Find it,” she commanded before turning back to Variks, her upper left hand glowing a bright blue that I, at first, thought was Arc Light, until it surrounded Varkis’s lower half like ice, hardening around him, holding him in place, slowly working its way up his body.

“Wait!” Variks cried out and Eramis paused in her tormenting execution.

“Eramis … Old friend …” Variks said, his voice softening. “These powers … they create chaos.”

Eramis lowered her hand for a moment, seeming to listen to him. 

“They are changing you,” Variks told her, sounding concerned and a bit saddened. “This …”

Instead of seeming swayed by his observations, Eramis just laughed and stepped closer to him, her voice lowering. “Cling to your Machine God,” she told him, fisting her upper left hand before opening it up before Variks. “With this power,” she said, igniting a blue flame in the palm of her hand, a solid, crystalline shape forming amid the flickering light. “We make our own fate.” She snapped her palm closed and turned to leave him. Variks quickly reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her but she spun back around and ripped the mechanical limb from his body. “Always playing pretend,” she carefully noted, studying the arm. “Living in the past.” She then looked at Variks with seeming contempt and crushed the metal frame in her hand before dropping it before him, Variks helpless to do anything but watch.

“Make an example of him,” Eramis then commanded as she turned and walked away, leaving her Vandals and Dregs to do with Variks as they pleased.

Cayde was suddenly on his feet, running and jumping, hurling himself into the air over the expanse between our hiding place and the rooftop. He lit up with a crackling of Arc energy and slammed the pointed staff down into the roof as he landed, sending pulsing fingers of energy fanning out in all directions, electrocuting the Eliksni closing in on Variks. Startled cries erupted, those closest to Cayde falling, dead, the ones still alive behind them momentarily startled before they rushed him. Cayde stood up and spun the staff into a whirling blade, diverting their attacks, then leapt back up into the air and scissor-kicked his legs, his feet connecting with the jaws of two Vandals while his staff swung up and cut a Dreg in half.

It all happened in the blink of an eye but I found myself in stunned mesmerization, amazed at how quickly he was able to move, the accuracy of the hits, and in awe at getting to see him, once again, using Arc. I was so used to him as a Gunslinger. I also found myself a bit - okay, maybe a lot - taken by the gracefulness of how he moved. I wondered how many times Cayde’s demeanor and carefree frivolity had fooled people. How many thought he was inept and not to be taken seriously. How many didn’t realize just how deadly he was when put to the test.

Was it possible to fall in love with the same man twice?

I noticed more Fallen being dropped in from a small ketch to my left. As soon as their feet touched the ground they made a beeline for a carved out ramp of ice and snow that lead up around the back to the roof, a Captain, swords brandished, leading them. I followed Cayde’s example and pushed myself up and out of the hiding place, a missile of Arc streaming through the air before crashing down to the ground, the force of my fists creating a shockwave, sending up snow and shattered pieces of ice like a tsunami all around me. The ground and building shook and the Captain, the couple of Vandals, and the handful of Dregs that had been heading for Cayde fell like dominos, instantly dead from the force.

I turned and hurried up the ice ramp to the roof just in time to see Cayde finish off the last Vandal.

“Wait a second,” Ghost said. “I’m picking up more chatter on the Fallen’s comms.” He then relayed what he was hearing to Cayde and I: 

“Have them surround the perimeter. The snake does not leave here alive,” Eramis commanded. 

“It will be done, Eramiskel,” another voice replied. 

I pulled out my Sunshot. “Guess we’ve got incoming,” I said, looking around for any signs of movement. 

“Saviors, hurry! You must free me!” Variks pleaded.

Before I could raise my canon to shatter the crystalline Darkness, Cayde drew the Ace and in six rapid shots, the solid matter holding Variks was destroyed. He stumbled and dropped to one knee, wheezing in pain and Cayde turned away, his cloak flipping back on the icy breeze that was suddenly closing in on us once again.

My eyes followed him and I could sense the very unusual and low thrum of seething anger and hatred just beneath the surface. I felt it, too. If not for Variks, what happened at the Prison wouldn’t have happened. Sundance … She’d still be alive. Cayde wouldn’t have had to go through what he had. And, yes, I knew that also meant things likely wouldn’t have gone quite the same way between Cayde and I - we wouldn’t have the bond we do now - but it seemed a small price to pay to spare him all the pain he’d endured. The rest … well … there was no denying our feelings for each other. Prison or no, we’d have found our way to each other.

Variks grabbed hold of his staff and pulled himself to his feet. “Variks thanks you,” he chittered.

I heard the tell-tale humming whir somewhere above the area signaling three more ketches closing in but was unable to see them through the heavy whiteout around us. 

“Now, Variks must hide,” he chittered once more.

“Not so fast,” Ghost sternly stated, stopping him. “We heard your message: ‘Darkness walks among us.’. What do you mean?”

“There is no time,” Variks insisted. "They are coming! Variks asks for your protection once more.”

The squall began to subside and, against the backdrop of Jupiter and the setting sun, I caught the shadowed shapes of two ketches coming in from the west, almost right above us. “I will take shelter inside. Succeed, and Variks will reveal all,” Variks then said and began to hobble away, eventually disappearing with the aid of a transmat device. 

I readied myself for the onslaught, briefly glancing toward Cayde who was doing the same. He was quiet. Tense. Unusual for him. Especially in a fight. This was when he was usually cocky and joking around. Pumped up and ready for the thrill of the fight. 

But not now. 

I knew why. 

I felt it, too. 

We’d address it later. Right now, we had a more immediate problem to tend to.

***

It didn’t take us long to fight off the Fallen. Those we hadn’t eliminated took off once they realized they couldn’t win, although I sure they would meet severe penalties if not their end for failing their Kell. 

The area cleared and secured, we headed down into the building below.

As soon as the doors slid open Cayde was like a guided missile. His eyes set on Variks, who’d barely made it into an upright position from his crouched spot near the large console on the other side of the room before Cayde was on him! A startled shriek escaped Variks’s throat as he was slammed back against the old equipment with a loud thud, the metal and machinery creaking as it bent and broke from the force, Variks’ staff clattering on the floor.

I stood frozen for a moment in shock. I knew Cayde was angry and I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting him to do or say once we’d made our way down here, but it wasn’t this. I’d never seen him like this before.

Ghost materialized beside me, his shell twitching and spinning, eye blinking, as he looked between Cayde and Variks, seeming as shocked as I was!

“Why?!” Cayde seethed at Variks. He pulled his helmet off and let it carelessly drop to the floor. “Why?” He asked again, leaning in close to Variks’s face as he hissed the question. 

Variks looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes as he gasped from Cayde’s hand around his throat, two of his own around Cayde’s wrist, struggling against the grip, while his last remaining mechanical hand futilely pushed at Cayde’s side, trying to get him to back off. 

It did nothing. Cayde was like a solid wall of steel, unrelenting.

Variks made a slight shaking motion with his head. “My … people - ” he rasped before being cut off by a jerk from Cayde’s hand. 

“Do you know what it cost?!” Cayde growled.

Variks squeaked in a faint gasp of air, his eyelids fluttering, his grip around Cayde’s wrist growing slack. He looked as if he were about to pass out. 

It was enough to snap me out of my stupor and I hurried over, taking hold of Cayde’s wrist, trying to get him to let go. I understood. I did. But this … this would be murder if he choked Variks to death. “Cayde …” I gave his wrist a pull but he didn’t even waver. I’d never felt anything so strong and solid that was another living thing. I swallowed and looked at him. “Cayde,” I tried again, shaking him a little, two of Variks’s four eyes closing, his body starting to go limp. “Cayde, stop! Now!” I demanded!

Cayde looked at me, his eyes pleading and frightened but also furious amidst the familiar rising grief he was fighting to push back down.

“Baby, I know,” I soothed, letting his wrist go, laying my gloved hand on his cheek. “I know,” I nodded. “But you can’t. This isn’t who you are. Let him go,” I gently said, sliding my hand back down to the one Cayde had around Variks. I nodded again and the fury that had welled up in Cayde faded away as quickly as it had risen. His hand and arm went slack, his shoulders slumping. 

Variks weakly rolled to the side out of Cayde’s grasp, gripping at his throat as he fell to the floor, his body heaving for air.

“He - ” Cayde began to say then clamped his lips shut with a light metallic clink, a low tremble working its way over his body.

I nodded. “I know,” I repeated. And I did. I could feel it. I could see it. All over his face. He hadn’t expected this. Neither of us had. We’d expected Variks to be long gone after that day. Seeing him here was the absolute furthest thing from our minds. And now, Cayde was right back in the prison, reliving that moment and the whirlwind of emotions that came with it. 

He shook his head. “I - I … I can’t be here right now,” he quickly told me, still shaking his head. He turned, hurrying out of the building.

Ghost jerked beside me, as if he were going to follow, but I stopped him. “No,” I told him. “He needs to be alone right now.”

Ghost looked at me and I gave a reaffirming nod, then the two of us turned to Variks, who was gradually getting his shaking limbs under himself, grabbing at his staff for aid. “V-Variks … do-does not … understand,” Variks wheezed, still holding his throat as he braced himself against the console. 

“What are you doing here?” I demanded. “What’s going on? And what did you mean by ‘Darkness walks among us’?” 

Variks looked at me and I think he knew I wasn’t going to explain Cayde’s actions to him and that it was likely best he answer my questions. He took a couple more gasping breaths, rubbing at his throat before speaking. “The Eliksni who attacked me …” he took another careful breath, "she is Eramis, Shipstealer. A new Kell of Kells, unifier of the houses - And she seeks to build an army of Eliksni, powered by Darkness.” He chittered a little, making a slight coughing sound. “If she is not stopped, she will destroy us all.”

“You mean the stuff she trapped you in? That was Darkness?” I asked as Ghost twitched anxiously.

“Yes,” Variks seemed to carefully swallow. “We call it Stasis.”

“How’d she get it?” 

“She communed with the Pyramids. Made it a weapon,” Variks explained. 

“How?” I pressed.

“Variks does not know!” Variks suddenly snapped, slamming the end of his staff down to the floor. “Was not there for it all! Just wanted to save my people!” He stared at me then backed off, calmed some, sighing and chattering. He shook his head. “Variks believed Eramis wanted to create a new life for the Eliksni. But these dark powers have poisoned her mind. I fled from her. For this, she calls me betrayer.” He leaned heavily against his staff, looking out the window nearby, his expression seeming sad. “There are others who fled. Those like me who still worship the Great Machine. They are in hiding. I will not leave them behind,” he steadfastly stated, looking back at me. “They will be casualties in her war without our help.” He took another wheezing breath. “But perhaps they can be brought to safety.” He chittered and turned himself to fully face Ghost and myself. “She will give the dark power to her followers. This … cannot happen. Everything will be lost. My people … and yours.”

I felt caught between a rock and a hard place. I had so much anger toward Variks for what had happened. For what it had done to Cayde. What it had cost him. The loss of Sundance. But what Variks had done … He was trying to save his people. I knew the stories. Knew what had happened to the Eliksni. And it didn’t seem like Variks had meant for what happened at the prison to happen. It didn’t justify it. It didn’t make it right. But I _understood_ it. 

If I’d been in such a position … what would I have done? How far would I go to save humanity?

If it had even been to save just Cayde … what would I have done?

I knew the answer. 

I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a steadying breath. I felt ill as everything sunk in, and I wasn’t entirely sure it was all me feeling that way.

If what Variks was saying was true, though, and what Eramis had was indeed Darkness - Stasis as he’d called it - then he was right. All of us were in grave danger. We needed to set aside what happened - at least for now - and work with him to stop her before it was too late.

“Where can we find her?” I finally asked.

***

I sat at the tiny pull out table in the back of the ship, a hot cup of coffee between my hands, staring off at nothing in particular, my right leg bouncing anxiously. I had a tablet set next to me, a map of Europa on the blue-lit screen, the path to Eventide Ruins laid out. My guns were loaded and ready, my pack filled with ammo and supplies and set in one of the seats by the door. I was going to give Cayde five more minutes and I’d have to go. If things were as dire as Variks said - as they genuinely seemed from what we’d witnessed - then this couldn’t wait. 

“Do you think he’ll come back?” Ghost asked, clearly worried about Cayde.

I was about to answer when I felt it wash over me. That familiar feeling of Cayde’s Light nearby. I closed my eyes and sighed, nodding. “He’s already here,” I told Ghost just as the back ramp activated. A safety barrier flickered into place to protect us from the elements as Cayde made his way up, his eyes downcast. I stood as he turned, his back to me, pressing the button to close the ramp back up, taking off some of the heavy outer subzero armor and setting it on the seat next to my pack.

I walked over to him, stepping up beside him and he hesitantly eased his hood back before casting a careful look in my direction. He looked like he was … ashamed. In fact, that was exactly what he was feeling. 

I reached out and rubbed his upper arm. “It’s okay,” I murmured, then coaxed him closer. “C’mere.” I pulled him into my arms and held him, petting the back of his head. “You don’t have to say anything,” I assured him. “Just know it’s okay.”

He hugged me back, tentatively at first, then tighter as the tension left his body. I felt him nuzzle his face into the crux of my neck and shoulder, breathing carefully, the metal of his face still a bit chilly from the extreme cold. I shivered little, unable to help it.

“Ooh,” Cayde winced. “Sorry, I - ” He made to lift his face away, but I gently stopped him, holding his head where it was. 

“It’s alright. Stay,” I whispered.

He hesitated for a moment, then seemed to burrow against me even tighter. “I don’t know what came over me,” he muttered into my neck, the movement of his lips and soft breath tickling my skin. “I saw him and then … I just saw red.”

I nodded. “I know. I felt it,” I murmured back.

“Thank you for stopping me,” he then uttered, hugging me a bit tighter.

“Shhhhhh,” I soothed. “It’s okay, now. Everything’s going to be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ❤️♠️❤️


End file.
